The health system has treated six infants with distinctive physical birth defects born to mothers who used various street drugs, including fentanyl, while pregnant, according to research published this fall in Genetics in Medicine Open. Two additional cases were reported in California, along with one each in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Birth defects include a cleft palate, unusually small head size and drooping eyelids. The defects are similar to those seen among children with Smith-Lemli-Opitz, a genetic syndrome in which fetuses do not properly process cholesterol. However, none of the infants had shared genetic variants for the syndrome or any other condition that could explain the birth defects.
Researchers said they suspect fentanyl may be causing similar disruptions to cholesterol metabolism during pregnancy, though more research is needed to confirm a link.
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